"I try to visit Polish Days every year as it is a great overview of what is new and current in Polish cinema. It is often the first place where I get a glimpse of Polish films that we select for Berlin later on. This year I've also found some very interesting works in progress," Nikolai Nikitin, Berlinale film programmer, told FNE.
The ten projects presented to Polish and international film professionals included fantasy, historical and psychological dramas and hybrid fiction-documentaries. Below is the full list of works in progress presented during Polish Days 2015.
The New World (Poland)
The drama directed by Elżbieta Benkowska, Łukasz Ostalski and Michał Wawrzecki is a compilation of three stories of immigrants living in Poland, made by debut film directors and debut screenwriters.
"In a journey to a better life, in the flight from a painful past, our attention is focused on three young people. The contemporary nomads, entangled in their cultures, politics, religion, find their asylum in Poland," the directors said in an official statement.
The film is produced by Akson Studio with a planned budget of 500,000 EUR.The New World received 1.7 m PLN of production financing from the Polish Film Institiute .The premiere is planned for 2015.
Directed by Elżbieta Benkowska, Łukasz Ostalski and Michał Wawrzecki
Produced by Jan Kwieciński
Production company: Akson Studio
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Wild Roses (Poland)
The new psychological drama from Anna Jadowska is set in a small town community where a woman becomes pregnant after an affair and decides
to give up the child for adoption. She tries to hide her plan from her husband, who is away in Norway. Marta Nieradkiewicz and Michał Żurawski are cast in the leads.
The film is produced by Alter Ego Pictures.
The planned budget of the film has not yet been announced, but the title already received 1.7 m PLN of financing from the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl). The Polish distributor is All Muses .
Directed by Anna Jadowska
Produced by Roman Jarosz, Izabela Igel
Production company: Alter Ego Pictures
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Waves (Poland)
Waves is a full length feature drama from documentary filmmaker Grzegorz Zariczny. The script follows Kasia, a girl studying to become a local
hairdresser in Nowa Huta. She has bigger dreams and wants to become a professional hair stylist. In order to achieve that she must sacrifice
all that she knows. The cast includes Katarzyna Kopeć, Ania Kęsek, Beata Schimscheiner and Artur Krajewski.
The film is produced by Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association in coproduction with Krakow Festival Office with a planned budget of 3m PLN and a 2m PLN production financing grant from the Polish Film Institute.
Directed by Grzegorz Zariczny
Produced by Ewa Jastrzębska
Production company: Munk Studio – Polish Filmmakers Association
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Journals (Poland, UK)
A fiction hybrid about Vera who lives a vagabond life as a singer but things crack apart when she goes home to Poland for her estranged mother’s funeral. She retraces a mysterious journey of three sisters who in 1981 travelled alone from Gdańsk, Poland to Mombasa, Tanzania.
The film is directed by Wiktoria Szymańska and produced by an UK based company Luna W. The producers are Wiktoria Szymańska and Martin Boege, Joanna Solecka and Agi Gutkowska.
Directed by Wiktoria Szymańska
Produced by Wiktoria Szymańska
Production company: Luna W
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,
Into the Spiral (Poland)
A psychological drama directed by Konrad Aksinowicz following Krzysztof and Agnes, a pair of thirty-year-old's in a toxic relationship who decide to leave town for a couple of days. Another major fight breaks out during their trip and Krzysztof decides to pick up a hitchhiker to break the tension.
The cast includes Katarzyna Warnke, Piotr Stramowski and Tamir Halperin. The initial shot for this title took place in October 2014 and the film is currently in post-production. The film is produced by Agnieszka Chromicka and her company Chroma Pro. The final budget of the film has not yet been announced, but the title received over 20,000 PLN of production donations through crowdfunding at www.wspieramkulture.pl.
Directed by Konrad Aksinowicz
Produced by Agnieszka Chromicka
Production company: Chroma Pro
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Baby Bump (Poland)
The fantasy drama directed by Kuba Czekaj is a surreal image of growing up. Eleven-year-old Mickey House can't connect with his mother and
friends. When he hits puberty his wild imagination makes him take every event to the extreme. The cast includes Kacper Olszewski, Agnieszka Podsiadlik and Sebastian Łach.
The film is a Venice Biennale College Project, produced by Balapolis with a planned budget of 150,000 EUR. The premiere is planned for 2016.
Directed by Kuba Czekaj
Produced by Magdalena Kamińska, Agata Szymańska
Production company: Balapolis
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
21 x New York (Poland)
21 x New York is a documentary essay about the human condition in 21st century Western society told through personal stories of 21 people met
in the New York City subway by documentary filmmaker Piotr Stasiak. The film is a collage of portraits of people trying to figure out what life is all about.
The film is in the early stages of production, with the project completion planned for 2016. The documentary is produced by Agnieszka Wasiak of Lava Films (www.lavafilms.pl). The premiere date has not yet been announced.
Directed by Piotr Stasik
Produced by Agnieszka Wasiak
Production company: Lava Films
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Volhynia (Poland)
The new drama from Wojciech Smarzowski spans the years from the spring of 1939 to summer of 1945. It takes place in a village inhabited by Ukrainians, Poles and Jews in the former eastern borderlands of pre-war Poland (today Ukraine). Smarzowski told FNE that drama about the pogroms in Volhynia "will avoid black-and-white stereotypes and recreate the lost world of the multicultural Eastern borderlands of pre-war Poland."
The film is produced by Film It with a budget of 4m EUR already in place. The project received financing from the Polish Film InstituteFilm Institute. The shoot launched in September of 2014 and will be completed by the end of 2015 with a premiere planned for 2016/2017. The cast includes Arkadiusz Jakubik, Michalina Łabacz and Jacek Braciak.
Directed by Wojtek Smarzowski
Produced by Dariusz Pietrykowski
Production company: Film it
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
When You Return (Poland)
The documentary directed by Anna Zamęcka focuses on Ola, a teenage girl who prepares her autistic brother for the holy sacrament of church confirmation while juggling taking care of her drunken father and a house that is falling apart. She dreams of picture perfect family with her mom coming back home for good, but instead she learns her first lesson of mature life: sometimes the hardest thing to do is to let go of your own dreams.
The film is produced by Otter Films in coproduction with Wajda Studio and HBO Europe. The film is currently in production, with a total budget and premiere date not yet announced.
Directed by Anna Zamęcka
Produced by Anna Wydra
Production company: Otter Films, Wajda Studio, HBO Europe
Production contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
